


emotional.

by digitally_analog



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi, Slow Build, Superhuman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-04-26 23:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14413251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitally_analog/pseuds/digitally_analog
Summary: Astrid Ljunggren just wants to live a normal life; dyeing peoples' hair and (lovingly) pestering her genius of a brother. But of course, it isn't that easy. When startled or afraid, her eyes go black and shadows dance around her hands, waiting for the command to strike. Dana tells her it's not a curse, but it sure as hell feels like one.-- Warnings and tags will be updated as the story progresses. Take care. --





	1. Meeting Ella

Astrid stepped into the salon with a tired smile, sipping from the coffee cup in his hand. He gave a quick wave to the woman getting settled at the front desk. She looked up and smiled back.

“Morning, Astrid! Looking good as always.”

Astrid ducked his head at the compliment. A bashful smile crossed his face. “Ah, thanks, Vicki.”

Vicki laughed good-naturedly, and she went back to setting up her things. As Astrid went to walk back to his station, Vicki looked back up quickly and twisted her body to look at Astrid again. “Hey, what’d the pin say?”

Astrid continued walking, taking a final sip of his coffee and putting it down on his station. He turned back towards Vicki and gestured to the blue pin, which read, ‘He/Him’. Vicki nodded and gave a bright smile, before returning to her work.

With that, Astrid opened a drawer, pulling out combs as he pulled up his schedule. With a small sigh, he tucked his standard brand white headphones into his ear and the prologue to _hopeless fountain kingdom_ began to play. He managed to get through the whole album before his first client came in. It was Julian, a close friend.

Astrid was thankful that Julian was fine with him keeping his headphones in — they shared a quiet mutual greeting, made of a slight head nod and a small smile, and they both walked towards the back of the salon. Astrid slipped one headphone out of his ear, _BADLANDS_ beginning its cycle. He tucked a plastic sheet in Julian’s shirt collar and wrapped a washcloth around his neck.

“How’s your morning so far?” Astrid’s voice was soft. Julian, who had sat down by this point, pliantly leaned his head back into the bowl.

“Uneventful. Had a stressful day yesterday, though.”

“Want to talk about it?” Astrid prodded gently as he turned on the water.

Julian shrugged as best he could in his position, “Rather not.” He paused, gaze catching on the pin on Astrid’s chest before he settled once more. Astrid finished shampooing Julian’s hair in silence. As he went to squeeze conditioner onto his hands, Julian questioned, “Anything interesting happening in your life, Astrid?”

It was Astrid’s turn to shrug. “I… I don’t know. Been messing with my guitar some more — no more performances though. Too busy,” he added hastily, scrubbing the conditioner into Julian’s hair. “Anxiety’s been a bitch, too. Had to move, like, a week of appointments to get out of a rut. I’m getting my ass kicked this week trying to catch up.”

“You doing better?”

Astrid nodded, a small smile creeping up onto his face. “Yeah. Good enough to come back and work again, at least.”

“That’s good.”

With that, there was silence between them as Astrid rinsed the conditioner from Julian’s hair, and guided him to sit up. After lightly drying his hair with a towel, the two of them went to Astrid’s station. As Julian sat down, Astrid wrapped the apron around his neck and asked simply, “Want anything different?”

Julian shook his head, and Astrid hummed as he grabbed his comb and scissors. He paused at his phone to restart “Drive” before beginning the routine haircut.

“How are you and your lovebird holding up?”

Julian beamed — like he always did whenever Astrid mentioned her — and answered, “Really well, actually. We’re looking for a new place to live; that’s what had me really stressed yesterday.”

“Oh really? Where are you thinking of moving?”

They fell into a casual, slow-paced conversation then, something Astrid was grateful for. Twenty minutes later, as Astrid was finishing with the cut, he heard someone come in the door. He paused to glance up, and saw a woman with blonde hair pulled into a messy bun pass through the door.

If Astrid believed in love at first sight, he’d have fallen for her then and there.

They made eye contact for the briefest of moments, but Astrid quickly pulled his focus back to Julian’s hair. He was all too aware of the faint blush creeping onto his face. He heard Vicki greet the woman, and she responded, voice bright and cheerful.

“You must be Ella?” Vicki asked.

“Yes; Ella Greene.”

“Wonderful. Astrid should be done soon— I can take you to the back…”

Astrid pulled his attention away from the conversation, the two chattering as they walked away. Julian smirked. “Better hurry. Don’t want to keep a princess waiting.”

Astrid clutched the scissors in his hand and playfully swatted Julian’s shoulder with the comb as he bit his lip. He didn’t dignify Julian with a response at first and just kept cutting his hair. Astrid tossed the words around in his head for a moment before retorting, “Hush. I’ve got a king to finish first.”

It only took a few more minutes for Astrid to finish, ending by running some styling gel into the thick hair. Pulling the apron from Julian’s shoulders, he took the washcloth wrapped around his neck and bat away the hairs that had fallen onto his skin.

Julian stood and pulled out his wallet, handing Astrid a ten dollar bill, which he tucked away with a smile. As Julian went to hand a check to Vicki at the desk, Astrid called behind him, “Hey, tell Kate I said hello, yeah?”

“Of course,” Julian answered, writing quickly, “she’ll be glad to hear from you. I’ll call when I need to set up another appointment. See you around, Astrid.”

“See you.”

With Julian stepping out of the door, and the beginnings of ‘Haunting’ playing in his headphones, Astrid quickly turned to pause his music and toss his headphones onto his station. He moved into the back, where Ella was tapping away on her phone. Astrid tried to appear unfazed as his heart began to thrum. Bad timing, anxiety. Bad timing.

Ella looked up, and smiled. “You must be Astrid?”

Astrid wanted to say something along the lines of ‘the one and only’ in response, but found that his mouth wouldn’t budge. Instead, he nodded with a hum. Ella grinned and continued, “I really like your hair. Did you do it yourself?”

“Yeah, I did. Thanks.”

He began the process of washing Ella’s hair, taking care not to pull too hard on the long blonde strands. If he kept the conversation focused on what Ella wanted done, he could get through this. _Surely._ “How much are you thinking about cutting off?”

Ella made a noncommittal noise, “I don’t want to go any shorter than I am. All my friends keep telling me my ends are a mess and that I need to get them fixed. Finally got a day off to get it done.”

Astrid hummed. “I can certainly fix them for you. An inch won’t take too much away. Do you have layers?”

“Yeah.”

Astrid rinsed his hands and grabbed the conditioner. “Then I’ll make sure your layers are even too. How’s that?”

Astrid felt his heart jump as he looked down at Ella’s face. Ella was beaming, her eyes closed and face relaxed. “Perfect.”

He ran the conditioner through Ella’s hair, trying to get his heart and breath under control. His anxiety was thrumming now, his heart racing and his breaths becoming more shallow as he ran water over the blonde strands to rinse it.

_don’t fuck this up she can’t know how much of a disaster you are **you can’t fuck this up don’tfuckitup youalwaysfuckitup—**_

Astrid quickly shut off the water, turning away to grab a towel. He placed the towel on her head and urged Ella to sit up in silence, trying to control his breaths and look less affected. The texture of the towel under his fingers was enough to provide some grounding, and he worked himself through a subtle breathing exercise. Maybe he dried Ella’s hair for a little longer than he should have, but by the time he stopped and draped the towel over her shoulders, his breathing had become more stable.

Crisis averted.

Ella followed him towards his station then, sitting down as Astrid pulled an apron over her shoulders, covering her red tee and dark gray leggings. As he got to work combing through her hair, she asked, “How long have you been working here?”

Astrid had to think for a moment. “I’ve been here for a year. Had my first real spot in a salon before this, but it shut down and I moved here.

Ella grinned. “I’m still paying off my student loans. They tell you that college is a necessary step into getting employed, and then once you’re out they throw you on your ass.”

Astrid nodded in sympathy, and held up a section of hair to show Ella. “This ok?”

Ella simply gave a quick ‘mhm’ and left Astrid to work in silence. Ella spoke up again, a kind smile on her face. “How long have you had the purple?”

Astrid froze for a split second, the question catching him off guard. He looked up and met Ella’s eyes in the mirror, before looking away and answering, cursing the slight tremor in his voice. “Purple’s been around for like two months. I’ve been dying my hair for a long time — that’s what I specialize in, actually. Been trying to get my brother to come in and let me dye his hair, but he won’t.”

Ella laughed. “Yeah? What color?”

Astrid couldn’t help the smile that came over his face as he continued snipping away at the blonde hair. “I was thinking a really light pink wash, just because you wouldn’t expect him to look good in it, but he would. He doesn’t want to because he wants to stay _sleek_ and _professional_ — he’s a software engineer, says he needs to look the part.” 

Astrid sighed as he cut another section of hair. “I think he should loosen up and have some fun, y’know? Self-expression and all that. But I won’t force him to do it; that’d be pretty shitty.”

“It sounds like you two are close.” Astrid nodded, and Ella continued. “That reminds me of my brother and I, honestly. He’s staying with me right now, and he gets to walk loads of dogs every day. I’m jealous. But, hey, he gets free coffee when I get back from the shop, and we hang out a lot, so it’s nice. Where’s your brother working?”

“From home. He’s on commission for some companies and he’s a workaholic. I have to drag him out of his office most of the time.”

Ella laughed softly, and their eyes met in the mirror again, but the conversation fell into a comfortable silence. Astrid finished Ella’s hair, and slipped the apron off of Ella’s body, shaking off the clipped strands. Ella stood from her seat, turning her head and running her hands through her blond hair, which was practically shining. “I love it— thank you so much!”

Astrid smiled bashfully, “Y-you’re welcome. Thanks for coming in.”

Ella reached into her small red purse and handed a ten dollar bill to Astrid, which he accepted with another thankful nod. She quickly went to the front desk, talking in a hushed voice with Vicki. Astrid took the chance to start sweeping the floor, getting lost in his thoughts.

The blonde left with a friendly wave, and Astrid called a farewell as she left. Once she was gone, he sank down into the chair at his station with a long sigh, spinning in a slow circle. He heard Vicki laugh from the desk next to him, as well as another stylist a few stations down from him, and he gave them both a harmless glare in response.

The rest of his appointments that day passed in a blur, and he allowed himself to sink into the methodic, repetitive motions of dyeing, rinsing, and trimming away hair.

After he finished cleaning up, prepared to go home early and drown out his thoughts in music, Vicki got his attention. “Hey, Astrid. One thing before you go.”

He suppressed a groan, and walked to the front desk. He leaned awkwardly on the slightly-too-short counter, one eyebrow raised. Vicki had a smug grin on her face, and Astrid felt his heart drop. That look was never a good sign. With little theatrics, Vicki flicked what looked like a business card towards him, and he caught it.

It was for the coffee shop down the street. On the back, however, in happy, bubbly writing, was Ella Greene, followed by a phone number.

Astrid ducked his head and tapped the cardstock on the counter, knowing that his face had to be burning red by now. He mumbled a goodbye then, and hurried out to his car. He all but fell in the driver’s seat with a long sigh, blue eyes unable to leave the number on the back. After a long moment of hesitation, he added the number into his contacts, and tossed the phone to the seat next to him. He started his car with a groan.

How the _**hell**_ was he supposed to text her?


	2. Astrid and Dana

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Astrid uses different pronouns depending on the day. So, I'm not just being inconsistent, I assure you.
> 
> This was the first part of the concept I ever wrote, and it's an exploration of the Ljunggren siblings.

Astrid flopped onto the couch and let out a sigh. She ran a hand through soft blue hair and closed her eyes. From the other room, a voice reached her ears. “Long day?

“Mhm. Lots of hair dye. Summer’s coming up, and all that,” Astrid answered, stretching her arms above her head. Her hands were stained in different places by hues of red, purple, and blue. “Almost slipped into that weird shadow form again.”

A weight sank down on the couch next to her. “What was it this time?”

“Pretty stupid, honestly. Someone dropped a shampoo bottle and it scared me. It was just a fucking bottle, Dana. What could a tube of plastic do to me, really?”

“Probably not that much, sib. The way I see it, if you ever do need your ‘shadow thing’, at least you know that it’s going to appear if you’re in danger.”

Astrid huffed. “Yeah, well, I don’t need that thing while working in a salon. Whatever— how was your day, resident genius?”

“Normal. Conference calls, sent in some software revisions, wrote a few update logs, double-checked some code. I went into my other form for a while, and I managed to get much more done in much less time.”

She couldn’t help but snort, tilting her head up to look at her brother, “Heh, only you would willingly turn yourself into a glowing-eyed superhuman to get more work done, Dana. At least your thing is more useful than mine.”

Dana shook his head, poking her hard in the arm. “Astrid. Stop that.”

Astrid rolled her eyes, “Fine, fine. Mine’s useful.” She moved her voice into a playful mocking tone, raising her fingers to create air quotes, “Just ‘not in an everyday context’.”

“Good, you’re learning. Anyone interesting come in for haircuts today?”

Astrid felt her face turn a light pink. “Well, cute blondie stopped in again. She’s coming back next week with her brother. Apparently he wants his hair dyed.”

“He’d be going to the best,” Dana quipped, and Astrid’s face got just a little redder. “What? I’m just stating a clear fact.”

Astrid rolled her eyes again. She reached out and messed with Dana’s black hair. “Yeah, yeah. Your hair is getting a little long too. Want me to fit you in next week?”

Her brother nodded, and Astrid grinned. She pulled out her phone and opened her calendar. Once she found the date, her grin grew wider. “We can close out the day by fitting you in after the cutie. Have the salon pretty much to ourselves.”

Dana closed his eyes for a moment, a look of concentration settling onto his face. Astrid knew he wasn’t trying to shut her out— it was easy for him to tap into the power of… whatever his other form was. By closing his eyes he could keep his cover and still read off a computer several rooms away. When he opened his eyes again, she caught the last, fading bit of a bright blue glow before it disappeared completely. 

“I’m free after three-thirty.”

Astrid nodded, typing into her phone. “Cool. Get to the salon by four if you want to meet the cute girl. Her brother’s cute too, honestly. You might like him. He’ll probably think you’re hot.”

Dana rolled his eyes and Astrid couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, Dana! Loosen up!”

He didn’t dignify his sibling with a response. Astrid continued, “Alright, fine. Be a hard ass. But when that boy’s cute as hell and you’re falling for him, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She laughed as he rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, Astrid. I have something interesting to share with you. About these… forms we have.”

Astrid’s eyebrows rose, and she put her phone down in her lap. “What kind of interesting are we talking?”

“I believe it’s a good kind of interesting. Taking into account all the times you’ve said this ‘form’ tries to appear, I think I know what it stems from, at least. It’s within reason that they take after a personality trait that plays into your life the most often.”

Astrid watched as Dana’s eyes started to glow a now-familiar blue. Faint blue lines, two by each eye, created a sharp 90-degree angle, which branched out from the corners of his eyes and disappeared into his hair.

“Your form always appears when something scares you; when your fight or flight kicks in. It’s your natural instinct trying to protect you. Because it primarily appears when you are facing a fight-or-flight situation, it can be assumed that this takes form from your natural instinct.”

He paused for a moment, letting Astrid process his words. Her face pulled into a small frown. When she nodded, he continued.

“Mine, on the other hand, started to slip when I would be trying to solve a problem or learn something particularly complex. I like to believe that I’ve solved many problems in my life using logical reasoning. In addition, my ability to connect with technology makes me believe that this form comes from rational thinking.”

Astrid scanned her brother’s face once more, eyes raking over the blue lines and glowing eyes. Her heart rate was picking up, and she could feel a tug at the back of her mind.

“What are they called, though?”

“In my own notes on them, I’ve taken to calling them ‘facets’. They’re portions of a whole, and they’re just a ‘side’ of our whole self.”

She took in a long, deep breath and asked. “So, you’re saying that this thing— my ‘facet’— is instinct?”

Dana nodded. The tug grew stronger, not as aggressive and forceful as it had been earlier that day. Still, it was persistent. Reluctantly, Astrid let it win her over, vision going dark for a moment. She could feel her throat grow raw, and her sense of awareness heighten.

When she opened her eyes, she watched a few tendrils of shadows rush to dance around her hands. She tried not to cringe at the rough sound of her voice. “But why us? Out of anyone on this planet, why us?”

The tiniest of smiles appeared on Dana’s face. “There may be something we need them for, or there may not be. That uncertainty could be troubling, sure, but I think that’s fascinating.” 

Astrid barely noticed her own head shake. Dana continued. “If it will help your mental state, I will continue searching for an answer to that question. But, Astrid, think of it this way; you can do whatever you want with it. You have the choice to use it or to ignore it. It’s in your hands.”

She watched as the shadows in her hands danced, swirling around each other in strange patterns. “I look like something that’s crawled out of hell.”

“I suppose you could be.”

Astrid took in a mock gasp, hands flying to her chest in horror, “Dana, I can’t believe you could betray me like this!”

Dana stifled his laughter behind his hand, the glow of his eyes faltering. Astrid grinned, “Awe, Dana can’t laugh when he’s being all cool and smart!”

Astrid watched as the glow dimmed a little more, his laughter becoming more and more pronounced. After a minute, the glow returned, and Dana fought to school his expression back into a cool, clinical stare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Astrid. I don’t seem to understand this thing you call ‘laughter’.”

It was Astrid’s turn to laugh now, the sound raspy and low. She felt the heavy weight of the facet begin to lift. The shadows in her hands still danced, though some began to slither away, back to where they belonged. She let them go and closed her eyes, and allowed the weight of the facet lift away from her completely.

When she opened them, she raised a hand to her throat. There was no residual evidence of roughness, though she felt a little jumpier than before. “That’s… really cool, actually. Y’know, having at least some idea of where it comes from.”

Dana rose to his feet. “It is just a theory, but all the evidence I have points to it. I fully intend on trying to figure out why your instinct manifests itself in the way it does, but baby steps will have to do for now.”

“Gonna go do some more work?” she asked, kicking her legs up onto the now empty couch.

“Yeah. Just let me know when you want to eat, alright? Don’t wait for me.”

Astrid nodded, waving her hand as he walked away. “Mhm, okay.”

She went back to scrolling through her phone as Dana disappeared around the wall and into his office. As always, the door shut with a soft click behind him.

“Instinct, huh?” Astrid mumbled to herself, a tiny grin rising to her face. “Nice.”


	3. Auburn

Astrid couldn’t help the bashful smile that crossed over her face when she saw Ella walk into the salon. Trailing behind her was someone who had the same blonde hair, though his was short and tousled on his head. His outfit was casual and was well coordinated — a crimson tee with dark blue skinny jeans.

“Hey, Astrid!” Ella greeted brightly. She quickly gestured to the person behind her, “This is Callan. My brother.”

“Hi,” Astrid greeted, cringing a bit at how lame it sounded. Callan seemed unfazed, however, and shook hands with the hairdresser with a wide grin.

“Hey there. Ella’s only told me great things about you— I really like your hair!”

Instinctively, Astrid reached up and ran a hand through the purple-blue hair. “Ah, thanks.”

As she spoke, she noticed Callan’s gaze fall on the pink pin on her black shirt, but he said nothing. She led the two back towards the sinks and asked, “So, I’m dyeing Callan and you’re getting trimmed?”

Ella nodded, “Yeah. Sorry, we’re making your day so much longer.”

Astrid waved her hand, gesturing for them both to sit near a small counter. She reached down and pulled a book from a low shelf. “You’re fine. My brother’s coming anyway, his hair needs cut real bad. We usually bullshit for a long time past closing.”

“You don’t do it at home?” Callan asked.

Astrid shook her head, “No. Easier to do it here because it’s easier to clean. I do my hair at home sometimes, but Dana gets mad because I stain the hell out of the sink.”

Ella laughed, a smile sitting on her face, and Astrid trained her gaze on Callan. “Speaking of, what color are you getting today?” She handed him the book, which held a plethora of hair samples in an array of colors. He didn’t stray much farther than the more natural reds. Astrid gave an internal sigh of relief when she saw that the one he chose was a color they had in the back. A beautiful shade of auburn.

“That’s going to look really nice,” Astrid commented. “We’re going to need to bleach your hair still, so I’ll, uh, go get that.”

It only took a short minute to gather her supplies and return. She draped an apron over his torso and got to work. The conversation was slow at first. There were just a few small-talk, introductory questions interspersed with short conversations between the siblings.

“What’s your brother do?” Callan asked.

“Software stuff, he’s on commission from home. He overworks himself and I have to drag him out of the house most of the time just so he’ll stop and rest for like, five minutes. You’ll probably get to meet him if he shows up on time.”

Astrid didn’t miss the knowing look Ella gave Callan, nor the slight pink tint that appeared at the tips of his ears immediately after. However, she said nothing about it and continued her work. After a while, Astrid glanced at her watch as she laid the last of the foil under Callan’s hair. “It’s not burning you, is it?”

“No.”

“That’s good.” Astrid smiled to herself, coating the last few strands of Callan’s hair in bleach and folding the foil over. “There. It should only need 15 minutes to set because your hair is so light already.”

Pulling out her phone, Astrid set a timer and slid it back into her pocket. She quickly took the bowl of bleach to the back, gathering the dye she needed and another, clean bowl. Once she walked back to the siblings, she left the dye on the counter and allowed herself to fall into one of the seats in front of the sinks with a sigh.

“You do anything else, other than this?”

Astrid let out a small laugh— it wasn’t supposed to sound nervous, but it did. “Well, uhm, I used to play guitar a lot, when I was still trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do. I used to play at open mics, but it’s been a long time.”

Ella’s eyebrows shot up, “Why’d you stop?”

“Uh, a few things. I started school and didn’t make as much time for it as I could have. I still play at home a lot, cause it’s a nice stress reliever, but I never really got around to doing it again. I just did covers, nothing original.”

Callan beamed, “What artists did you cover?”

The conversation went on for a long time, then, with Astrid and Callan trading band names and gushing about them on occasion. Astrid had mostly covered artists from the alternative genre, with a few from the punk rock genre thrown in. She learned that both she and Callan went through equally intense punk-rock phases. As Astrid finished rinsing the bleach from Callan’s hair, she gestured to her own dyed hair.

“As you can tell, I never _completely_ grew out of it.” Astrid heard Ella giggle at that, and she desperately fought against the warmth that rushed to cover her face.

Callan shrugged as he sat up, “To each their own. It’s not so much my style anymore. Maybe one day I’ll regress back into the throws of my addiction to Fall Out Boy again.”

With that, Astrid set him under the dryer for about ten minutes, trying to dry it enough to ensure the dye would set properly.

Astrid hummed to herself as she scrolled through some missed notifications on her phone, frowning at a message from her brother. Half an hour ago.

_[3:27pm] Dana:_ Just found a huge snag in something that needs to be fixed ASAP. I’ll be a little late. _Ursäkta._

_[3:55pm] Astrid:_ k. lmk when ur on ur way

_[3:56pm] Dana:_ Should be leaving in 10 minutes.

* * *

Dana made his presence known by knocking his knuckles against the front desk. Callan had just gotten settled in the chair at Astrid’s station, and Astrid turned to Dana and smiled. “You made it.”

“Yes, I did. How’re you holding up?”

“Good,” Astrid answered, “today’s been long, but it’s worth it. This is Ella and Callan.”

“Nice to meet you!” Ella cheered, reaching her hand out to shake Dana’s. He paused before reaching out and accepting the handshake.

Callan managed, “Yeah. A pleasure,” as he reached out for a handshake of his own. Astrid grinned wide at the pink flush on Callan’s face. She glanced up at her brother’s face, but his expression betrayed no emotion other than neutrality.

With the addition of Dana, the conversation focused on him, and Astrid was work on Callan’s hair with very little distractions. It didn’t stray much from shallow small-talk, though Dana’s answers were often short, not revealing much.

After a while, Ella left to get her hair washed by another hairdresser, who offered to help Astrid out before she left for the day. As Astrid snipped away the soft auburn strands of Callan’s hair, she asked, “Dana?”

“Mm?” he responded, looking up from his phone with a raised eyebrow.

“When the _hell_ are you going to let me dye your hair?”

Dana snorted, looking at his sibling incredulously. “You’re always going to get the same answer, Astrid.”

Astrid smirked and said with a sing-song voice, “I _still_ think you’d look good with pink hair. You don’t even have to keep it for that long. It doesn’t even have to be pink! You could take a page out of my book and go blue. Or purple— a really dark purple would look good too.”

Her brother shook his head with a long-suffering sigh. “No. I’ll pass.”

“It was worth a shot,” Astrid muttered, eliciting a quiet huff of laughter from Callan.

If Astrid was honest, the most of the evening passed in a bit of a blur. Once she finished with Callan, she made quick work of Ella’s hair. Dana had quickly taken up the role of the conversationalist, ducking around and evading prodding questions while still maintaining the interest of the Greene siblings. Astrid was surprised that they had even stayed this long, as she put some of the final touches on Dana’s hair.

She tossed the scissors to the station in front of her and went to grab some gel. As she moved to open the cap, a loud, sudden crash came from somewhere in the back. Ella gave a squeak of surprise; Astrid stiffened and froze in place, a cry caught in her throat. The whites of her eyes were quickly slathered in black, and the blue of her iris was buried beneath the dark film. Her throat went raw and rough, and she _felt_ the shadows from under the station dart up to her hands.

Astrid whipped around towards the noise, her senses on high alert. She dropped the gel and it clattered to the floor, the noise sending a violent shiver up Astrid’s spine. She all but ran towards the source of the noise— something was _wrong wrong_ ** _wrongWRONG_**.

She threw a hand forward, and the shadows darted to the door of the back room. They twisted the handle and threw the wooden door open. Astrid came to a stop in the doorway, and a tendril of shadow shot towards the light switch, bathing the room in light.

The shelving had collapsed. Containers of dye littered the floor — miraculously all still closed — along with several of the bowls that Astrid used every day. Astrid let out a long groan at the sight, reaching a hand out to lean against the doorway, burying her head in the crook of her right elbow.

After the relief of finding nothing catastrophic washed over in a comforting wave, her heart rate skyrocketed. **_People saw her—_ ** they had seen her transform and oh _God_ they’d probably already called the cops, Dana wasn’t going to be able to dissuade them, they’d do God knows what to try and figure out what the _hell she’s been cursed with_ —

A strangled cry, something between ‘no’ and ‘help’ left Astrid’s mouth as she leaned all of her weight against the doorway, slowly sliding to the floor. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. She squeezed her eyes shut and shoved her head between her knees as heavy footsteps approached. “Astrid? It’s just me.”

“Mmn,” Astrid managed, shaking her head. It was just Dana. She tried hard to slow the intake of air, and it took a while for her to do so.

Once her head felt less fuzzy and less like it was swimming, she pulled her head up, heaving a long, sigh. The raspiness was still stuck in her throat, but it was a little more bearable now. Her voice kept near a whisper. “Fuck. Hasn’t been that bad in a long time.”

Her hearing picked up two more sets of footsteps, and she stiffened, eyes darting over to Dana. His eyes were glowing their bright blue, and Astrid felt the tiniest hint of relief flow through her. “They haven’t called anyone, I assure you; I blocked their cell reception as soon as you ran.”

Instead of fear, Callan’s voice was almost amazed as he spoke. “Speaking of which, how the hell did you manage that?”

Dana stood, and Astrid followed suit. Dana answered simply, turning to face Callan and Ella, “Just something I can do.”

The four of them stood in silence for a long moment, each taking turns starting the other down. Ella reached up and tapped Callan on the arm, and the two had a silent conversation that lasted mere seconds. Once they finished, Ella breathed in deep. “You’re not alone.”

Astrid raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t need to ask. Ella’s eyes slid closed, and when they reopened, they were a pure white. White markings decorated her eyelids, reaching out towards her temples in delicate spirals. She took a few steps forward, holding out her hands with a soft smile. Her body was glowing tentatively, almost shy. “I know it’s hard to see, but uh… I can glow. It gets a lot brighter when I’m not, uh, as nervous. And when I get really mad, I can freeze things too.”

She gestured to Callan, “And he can make things appear out of thin air. So, we aren’t going to snitch on you two. That would mean we’d lose the only other people we know that have things like us.”

Astrid let out a heavy, long breath, eyes darting between the Greene siblings, before shooting Dana a knowing look. She shifted on her feet and suggested, “Can we talk about this somewhere that isn’t here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh, lame ending, sorry. if i kept going, this chapter would be like 4k words or more.


	4. Theories

In the end, they decided to go to Dana and Astrid’s home, since it was in better condition for visitors. After picking up the fallen dyes and sending a few messages, Dana drove Astrid home. The hairdresser’s eyes were very slowly returning to their normal color, but she was still on edge.

Once they returned, Astrid toed off her boots in the doorway and took long strides towards the couch, where she threw herself down and let out a long groan. Dana quirked an eyebrow as he removed his own shoes, before gliding over to the table to gather loose papers covered in his crisp handwriting. “You all right over there?”

“Oh I don’t know, Dana. Two people just saw me turn into a demon and then decided to tell us that _they_ have those weird things—”

“Facets.”

“— _Facets_ , too. I’m fucking fantastic.”

Dana huffed at the dripping, scathing sarcasm, and tapped the pages to line them up. He very quickly made his way into his office, where he reached into a drawer and pulled out another collection of papers, all of them dealing with the different abilities he had observed within himself and his sibling.

He snatched a pen from his desk before exiting and closing the door behind him. He laid the pen and paper down on the table he’d just cleared, next to several blank sheets. Astrid had gotten up while he was in his office, and was pouring some water into the boiler. In a practiced dance, Dana reached for the box of tea as Astrid reached for two mugs— one a dark blue, decorated with constellations and stars, and the other gray, well-loved and simplistic.

As the two waited for the water to boil, Astrid let out a sigh, drawing her brother’s attention. Her eyes were back to normal now, though she was still a bit jittery. Dana gave her a satisfied nod, and the boiler clicked off. Astrid dropped a tea bag in each, nose wriggling slightly at the smell — of course it was chamomile; Dana wasn’t that subtle _—_ before Dana poured in the water, filling each to an equal level.

“How long did they say they’d be?”

“Should be here in five.” Dana answered, taking both mugs towards the living area. Astrid followed, reclaiming her spot on the couch. Now, however, she sat properly, plugging in her phone and scrolling through a few things. Dana sat down across from her, fingers tapping in odd patterns against his thigh.

After a few minutes of this, Astrid glanced up from her phone and arched an eyebrow. “You’re doing the thing again.”

Dana sighed, fingers ceasing to tap in favor of curling into a fist. Astrid dropped her phone onto her knee. “I know it’s kind of dumb, seeing as I’m always nervous, but look, I’m nervous as _fuck_ about this. And honestly—”

They were cut off by a gentle knock at the door. Astrid pushed herself to her feet, letting out a long breath as she walked towards the door. Before she could get too worked up, she opened the door, to see Ella and Callan standing there. Wordlessly, she gestured them inside, leading them towards the living area. Before she sat, she asked, “Want any water or anything?”

Ella nodded in assent, so Astrid went to get two glasses, just in case. She filled them and returned quickly, putting them on the low table in front of the Greene siblings, before sinking into her spot at the end of the couch. There was a long, long pause, all of them looking between each other, waiting for someone to break the silence.

It was Callan who spoke first, voice low but curious. “You say you know what these forms are?”

Dana nodded in response, “I have theories, but at this point, that’s the only thing that I have.”

He proceeded to explain what he believed Facets were, and why he believed they came from personality traits. He tried to keep his explanation organized and simple. Astrid snuck glances at Ella and Callan, though the two of them looked to be completely enraptured in what Dana was saying.

Astrid was caught off guard when Ella spoke up and asked, “How long have you known about them? That you’ve had them?” Astrid looked to her brother, heart sinking at the thought of why she had learned about her Facet.

Dana took the lead once again, meeting his sibling’s eyes and understanding in seconds. “I learned of mine about halfway through high school, but I didn’t really experiment with it until college.”

Astrid pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them close. Her voice was almost flat, as though she wanted to distance herself from what she was saying. “Mine showed up around middle school.”

When Astrid didn’t continue, Ella gestured to herself and her brother, “We found ours around middle school, high school too! It’s so cool that we found each other without really trying!”

Dana leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if this is comforting or worrying.”

“And why would that be?” Ella asked.

“Without knowing about you, I could believe that it was just some freak accident. However, now that I know that you exist and have Facets as well, that means that there is a much greater chance that there are others who have Facets themselves. And they can’t be guaranteed to be nice people.”

At these words, Astrid felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She frowned, and looked down towards the gray carpet. Dana continued, “While it is nice that we know that we aren’t alone, the implications are worrying. We don’t quite know how strong Facets are, beyond what we’ve experienced ourselves.”

Astrid lifted her head. Ella hummed, crossing her arms over her chest, averting her eyes. Callan shifted in his seat, sitting straight backed, though he looked uneasy as well. The hairdresser spoke. “That’s terrifying.”

Dana slid his gaze over to his sibling and nodded. “It is.”

Callan sighed. “I agree. But maybe that’s why we have them? Maybe we’re supposed to protect people from those that have ill intentions?”

Dana shrugged and pointedly glanced at Astrid. “It’d be something. A little story-book esque, but it’d be something.”

Astrid huffed, folding her arms and sitting back. While she knew Dana was trying to give her a sense of solace, with a purpose for a Facet and reasons why she had one in the first place, she still felt uneasy.

Ella raised a hand to hide a yawn. “Well, whatever it is we’re supposed to do, I think it’d be better if we tried to figure it out when we aren’t tired. I have an early shift tomorrow.”

Callan added, “Yeah, I think we’ve been in your hair for long enough.” He rose to his feet. “See you around, I suppose.”

The two went towards the door, with Ella frantically saying that she’d text soon, and that they should meet again, to which Callan agreed. Astrid nodded her head and watched from the door as the two went to their car and drove away. When she turned back to the living room, she saw that Dana had moved to look at his phone, and was thumbing a message. Astrid sank back onto the couch, staring at nothing.

“Let’s pretend, hypothetically, that there _is_ something out there that we’re supposed to protect people from. What happens if we fail? I mean, we’re still _human_ , we’re gonna make mistakes.”

Dana kept typing. “Whenever that happens, I’ll have an answer for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi WOW this chapter was #notfun to write. fun stuff is coming though, i promise you.


End file.
